Tank



W. M. HUTCHI SON.

TANK.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 25, I9I6.

Patented Feb. 23,1920.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

I v gmvewtoz WNW/4,414,

3% W zmr UT W L W e EZHW @Wwnwowo:

v r I j g {if 1 .91% N W. M. HUTCHISON.

, TANK.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 25. 1916. 1,329,603. Patented Feb. 3,1920.

- 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.-

WWHQ/JOWJI 1 ,anoe/wtoz 7% 7% [It l'mn a, au v @mi f W. M. HUTCHISON.

TANK.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 25. I916.

Patented Feb. 3,1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 rn srn'rns ri'r WILLIAM M. HU'ICHISON, OF SOMERVILLE,NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 UNION TANK LINE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, 1\T. Y., ACORPORATION 015 NEW JERSEY.

TANK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented lFeloo 8, i920,v

Application filed January 25, 1918. Elerial No. 74,085.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, lVILLIAM M. Huron:- SON, a 'citi'ien of the UnitedEltates, residing at Somerville, in the county of Somerset and State ofNew Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tanks,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in tanks andespecially transporting tanks of that character or type mounted upontrucks for transportation along arailway, and more particularly contemplates an improved tank for the transportation of fluid substanceswhich congeal or solidify, such, for instance, as asphalt,

pitch and oleaginous substances which, upon cooling, harden to such anextent as to be no longer fluid or which flow only with greatditliculty, and for this reason consume an objectionably long period oftime in being flowed from the tank when it is desired to withdraw thesubstance therefrom.

The primary object of my invention is to provide an improved tank whichwill have an eliicient heating means for heating the congealed orsolidified contents to reduce the same to such fluid state as willpermit it to flow rapidly and freely from the tank.

it further object of the invention is to provide a heating system, theparts of which may be readily and conveniently accessible for repair andreplacement.

A further object is to provide a heating means which will efficientlyreduce the solidified contents of the tank about the out let opening orin the spout leading from the same, should a spout be employed and toprevent such coagulation or solidification during the emptying of thetank as would restrict the outlet opening.

it further object is to provide an improved heating system in the tankwhich will evenly and quickly distribute its heat throughout thecontained mass resulting in a rapid and even melting oi the said mass toa fluid condition.

Another object is to provide means for elliciently and rapidly heatingcontents surrounding the valve and valve-seat of the tank outlet, andthe means for operating the valve, so that the valve may be easilyoperated.

The invention consists in the means to be more fully describedhereinafter and the novelty of which will beparticularly pointed out anddistinctly claimed.

1 have fully and clearly illustrated my invention in the accompanyingdrawings to be taken as a part of this specification and wherein:

Figure 1 is a horizontal longitudinal section through a tank equippedwith my invention.

Fig. is an enlarged vertical central section through the central portionof the tank longitudinally thereof, shown in Fig. '1.

Fig. 8 is an end view of the tank body with one of the heads thereofremoved to show the internal arrangement of some of the heating elementsat the end of the tank, some oi the parts being omitted for the sake ofclearness.

t is a section on the line M of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a detail top plan'view of an out let spout. V

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view of a means for attaching one of theheating elements to the wall of the tank body.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, 1 designates ashell or body of a tank of one type to which my invention is applicable,said body being built up of sheet metal plate or plates in a well-knownmanner, and being cylindrical in form. and adapted to be supported uponwheeled trucks (not shown) to constitute a tank car, the ends of saidshell being closed by crown heads of sheet metal 2, 2. The tank body maybe provided at a point intermediate its ends and on its upper side witha verticallyextending dome 3 of well-know construe-- tion. I desire itunderstood that I do not limit myself to the particular type orconstruction of the tank body proper, as my invention is applicable todillerent types and constructions of tank bodies.

The tank body is adapted to receive and transport liquids, and, in thepresent ineashes arrangement 42 located in a manner similar to the coils20 and 40, heretofore described, but extending in the opposite directionthereto from the header 14, having an end loop 43 extending across theend of the tank head 2 at the opposite end of the tank from the loops2'1 and 41. The return end of the pipe 42 is connected to the neck 34 ofthe outlet chamber 33, as shown at 44. To the coupling neck 1'? of theheader 14 is connected the inlet end of another baclcand fortharrangement of pipe 45 having a loop 46 at the end of the tank extendingtoward Said loop 43, the outlet end of the pipe 45 being connected tothe coupling neck 36 of the outlet chamber, as at 47. ()ne onmore of thereturn loops of the pipe 45 adjacent the bot-tom of the tank and theheader 33, may be shortened, as at 48, to'provide a space for .theaccommodation of the said outlet chamber.

Steam or other fluid heating medium is supplied to the inlet header 14by means of a supply pipe 49 coupled to said header, as at 50, andhaving its opposite end projecting through the side wall of the dome 3,or through the tank Wall at some other point, and suitably secured tosaid Wall by means of clamping nuts 51, the outer end of the said supplypipe'being threaded, as at 52, to receive a closure cap 53. The inletend of this pipe is adapted to be connected to a steam line wherebysteam is fed to the header 14 preferably atthe center thereof and isdistributed therefrom through the couplings 15, 16, 17 and 18 to theindependent sets of heating units 20, 40, 42 and 45. The steam line mayenter the header at any point intermediate to the center and ends of theheader. The arrangement of independent heating units is importantbecause the heating medium, such as steam, will pass simultaneouslythrough all of said units and be distributed through the heating systemmore rapidly than were the whole system of pipes in a continuouscirculatory arrangement. Another advantage is that one of the units maybe removed or repaired without disturbingor (liSCOIHlBCtiIlg the others.The pipe systems 42 and 45 are supported by supporting bars 23, 24,similar to the bars 23 and 24, heretofore described, and the loops 43and 46 are supported in the same manner as the loops 21 and 41, and itis, therefore, believed that further description of this supportingmeans is unnecessary.

The steam fed to the header 14 passes to the several heating units andis exhausted therefrom into the exhaust or outlet chamber 33, from whichit passes into the pipe 39 and through the chamber 13, heretoforedescribed, in the unloading nozzle, whence it is exhausted by an exhaustpipe 54. It will thus be seen that the base portion of the substanceWithin the tank will be heated and melted, and that the unloading nozzlewill be heated so as to melt out any substance adjacent to the valve andvalve rod which may serve to lock the valve to the valve seat and alsoprovide a free passage through the unloading nozzle.

It is important, as far as the element of time-saving is concerned, thatthe material adjacent the valve be melted quickly to provide a freepassage to the unloading nozzle, so that the fluid resulting from themelting of the substance in the tank may find a ready outlet. In orderto accomplish this result, I preferably provide a heating means wherebythe substance being transported adjacent the valve and the outlet willbe heated by the steam or other heating medium while the latter is atits highest temperature .so that, in effect, a passageway is providedpromptly for access of. the melted substance to the outlet. This meansmay take a number of forms, but I prefer to provide a helical pipe coil55 wound vertically around the valvcstem 9 and spaced therefrom, saidcoil being of such length as may be necessary to melt enough of thesubstance about the valve stem and valve to open up the passageway tothe valve and the outlet. in order that the pipe coil may receive theheating medium at its highest temperature, the upper end of said coilpreferably is connected directly to the header 14, as at 56, directlybeneath the coupling 50 so that the coil is in effect in directcommunication with the inlet pipe 49. The outlet of the coil may takeplace at any point, but I prefer to couple it, as at 57, to the outletchamber 33 so that the highly heated steam will also enter the outletchamber and will maintain the spout connected thereto at a highertemperature than if only the exhaust steam from the main heating coilswere admitted to said chamber 13.

It is believed that theoperation of the '-tank embodying my inventionwill be clearly understood fromthe above description taken in connectionwith the drawings, but I will briefly state the operation as follows.it. being assumed that the tank contains a fluid substance which hascongealed or solidified to such an. extent as to reduce its ability toflow rapidly from the outlet of the tank: The operator removes the cap53 from the steam supply pipe 49 and connects to saidpipe a steamconduit leading to any suitable source, and the steam is then permittedto flow through the supply pipe into the header 14, whence, at its hightemperature. it flows directly into the coil surrounding the valve-stem9 thus melting the substance surrounding the valve-stem so as to permitthe easy operation of the latter. From the coil 55 the steam passes intothe outlet header "or chamber 83, whence it passes through the which hasentered the header it passes through the coupling necks at the endsthereor into the heating pipes 20, ell), 4:2 and 4:5, so that the sidesand bottom portion of the substance contained in the tank is heated tothe point where it will flow readily from the tank body. By spacing theheating units from wall of the tank, it will be apparen that they do notobstruct the flow ot' the melted substance, as would he the case werethey located against, or too close to, the wall of the tank.

What claim and desire to secure by Let ters, Patent of the United Statesis 1. ln tank, inlet and outlet headers in the-tank, a heating conduithaving its inlet and connected to the inlet hader, and ts haust andconnected to the outlet header, the onduit extending lon itudinalliffoi? the tank I one end thereof and a l; end of the ta a closelyapproaching e nk wail.

i, a tank, an inlet header extending within and transve? ely the tank,the said inlet header having oppositely-disposed branches at ends anoutlet header having oppositelv-disposed hranches, pipe coils l'iavingtheir inlet ends connected to the branches of the inle header and theirexhaust ends connects l to the branches of the outlet header, said coilsextending iongitudinally oi the tank and being formed at each end oi?the tank with transverse oppositely-extending loops.

8. ln a tank iaving adischarge opening, a valve controlling saidopening, a valve rod for operating the valve, inlet and outlet headersin the tank, heating conduits having their respective ends connected tosaid headers, and a heating pipe connected with the inlet header andattending adjacent and longitudinally of the valv rod.

4. A tank having a discharge opening, an unloadingnozzle leading fromsaid opening and containing a heating chamber exterior of the tank, aninlet header and an outlet header in the tank, a heating conduitconnccting said headers and extending longitudinally of the tank andadjacent the wall thereof, a heating coil surrounding the dischargeopening within the tank and connected to said headers, and an exhaustconnection between the outlet header and said chamber.

5. In a tank,

i a loop a inlet header in the tank aeaaeoa provided with a dischargeopening and ex the horizontal diameter oi the tank, an outlet headerarranged adjacent the inlet header and beneath the same, and independentsets of heating conduits extending in opposite directions from saidheaders and having their inlet ends connected to the in let header andtheir outlet ends connected to the outlet header.

1 ln a tank, an inlet header in the tank and extending transverselythereof and hav ing oppositeiy-disp0sed discharges at its ends, anoutlet header having oppositely disposed inlets at its ends, andindependent sets of heating pipes extending in opposite directions foinsaid headers and having their inlet ends connected respectively to thedischarges or the inlet header and their outlet ends connected to theinlets of the outlet header.

- o, i a tank, an inlet header in the tank and extending transverselythereofand having positely-disposed discharges at its ends, an outletheader having oppositely-disposed inlets at its ends, and independentsets of pipes having their inlet ends connected respectively to thedischarges of the inlet header and their outlet ends to the inlets ofthe outlet header, said outlet header being supported below the inletheader the lower portion of the wall of the tank and having an exhausttherethrough.

in a tank car, a tank having a discharge outlet through its lower wall,avalve for controlling said outlet, a valve-rod connected tosaid valveand extending through the. space within the tank, and a heating member.surrounding said valve-r0d.

4 10. En a tank car, a tank having a discharge opening through its lowerwall, a valve for controlling said outlet, a valve-rod connected to saidvalve and extending= ice opening, a valve-rod for operating the valve, aheating chamber about the valve,

and a heating coil about the valve-rod, said heating coil and chamberbeing in communication with each other.

13. In a tank car, a tank, an inlet header in the tank, an outlet headerin the tank,

7 a valve r for operating the valve, a pipe coil surrounding the valverod and connected to the inlet header and the outlet header, and aconnection between the outlet header and said chamber.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

VVM. M. HUTOHISON. Witnesses:

THOMAS ZEAGHEN, J12, CHAS. W. DRANE.

